WEBVTT

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GEOFF BENNETT: Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu pushed

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back today against criticism
of his Gaza strategy from
within his own government.

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Israel's defense minister
accused Netanyahu of indecision
and leading Israel down

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a -- quote -- "dangerous
course." The public
infighting comes as the
Biden administration

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this week said Israel did
not have a political plan
for what's next in Gaza.

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Nick Schifrin has been following
this, and he's here with us now.

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So, Nick, what happened
today in Israel? It looks

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like the private infighting
has burst into public view.

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NICK SCHIFRIN: For months,
the Israeli military has
been pushing Benjamin
Netanyahu to look

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beyond individual military
operations and lay out
a political plan for
the future of Gaza,

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lay out the goals that the
military operations that he's
ordered are designed to achieve.

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And, today, Gallant, the
defense minister, said
that, since October, he
and military commanders

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have been pushing for a plan to
have governance in Gaza led by
Palestinians with international

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actors, and that would
presumably require the
Palestinian Authority
to participate.

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And, today, Gallant said that
his proposal was never even

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debated and no alternative
had ever been proposed.

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YOAV GALLANT, Israeli
Defense Minister (through
translator): Indecision is,

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in essence, a decision. This
leads to a dangerous course
which promotes the idea

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of Israeli military and civilian
governance in Gaza. This is a
negative and dangerous option

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for the state of Israel,
strategically, militarily and
from a security standpoint.

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We must make tough
decisions for the future
of our country, favoring
national priorities above

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all other possible
considerations, even
with the possibility of
personal or political costs.

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NICK SCHIFRIN: Those
personal or political costs

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that he's speaking about is a
direct reference to Netanyahu.

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There are senior U.S. officials
who I speak to, Geoff, who
are increasingly concerned

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that Netanyahu is prolonging
the war in order to remain prime
minister. Netanyahu, of course,

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denies that. And he said today
that his plan was to install
Gazan families unaffiliated with

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either Hamas or the Palestinian
Authority, but that plan
had been blocked by Hamas.

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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Israeli
Prime Minister (through
translator): Therefore,

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all the talk about the
day after, while Hamas
remains intact, will

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remain mere words devoid
of content. Contrary to
what is being claimed,

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for months, we have been
engaged in various efforts to
resolve this complex problem.

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In any case, there's no
alternative to military
victory. The attempt to bypass

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it with this or that
claim is simply detached
from reality. There's one
alternative to victory,

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defeat, military, diplomatic
and national defeat.

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NICK SCHIFRIN: Detached from
reality. He's speaking about

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his own defense
minister's comments there.

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It's important to note that
Netanyahu is worried about
his coalition staying intact,

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members of which have been
called -- have called for
the reoccupation of Gaza and

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a much more punishing
military operation in Gaza.

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One of them today, National
Security Minister Itamar
Ben-Gvir, tweeted this.

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He said that "Gallant failed
on October 7. He continues to
fail now and must be replaced."

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GEOFF BENNETT: So, how does
the Biden administration
view all of this?

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NICK SCHIFRIN: The Biden
administration has been
pushing Netanyahu to
accept the Palestinian

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Authority to run Gaza after the
war, and that would unlock some
of the larger proposals that the

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Biden team has been
pursuing, especially
unlocking Arab participation
in the day-after plan.

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And, this week, Jake Sullivan
made another criticism
public. He said that Netanyahu

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needed to embrace some kind
of political strategy, those
goals to -- that he wanted

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to achieve in order to win this
war. And U.S. officials tell me
that call has not been heeded.

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GEOFF BENNETT: Meantime,
Nick, Israeli forces are
expanding their operation in

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Rafah. Is this the same
operation that the Biden
administration has been
advising Israel against?

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NICK SCHIFRIN: U.S. officials
tell me that the operation so
far has been targeted at the

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border in order to prevent
Hamas from smuggling both
weapons and people in,

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and U.S. officials say they
have been doing that, as well
as in the eastern part of Rafah.

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Netanyahu said today that
half-a-million people
from Rafah had fled and
that -- quote -- "The

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humanitarian catastrophe
that's been spoken of has not
been realized, nor will it."

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But we spoke to Dr. Adam
Hamawy, one of 10 American
doctors who's stuck

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in a hospital in Southern
Rafah. He's been stuck there
since Israeli forces seized the

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border and closed the border.
He served in Iraq, and he
helped save the life of

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Senator Tammy Duckworth in
2004 when she was injured. That
injury cost her both her legs.

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And Hamawy said today that
the conditions in his hospital
were both dire and tragic.

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DR. ADAM HAMAWY, Palestinian
American Medical Association:
The hardest thing for me is,

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honestly, the little children
that are coming in with
life-changing injuries.

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It's the boy that I
took care of today that
lost an arm, two legs,

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and part of his remaining
hand. I took care of
both U.S. military,

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Iraqi military. I took
care of contractors. I
took care of civilians that
were injured in the fight.

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But the degree and the
level of casualties that are
innocent civilians, most of my

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patients have been young
children, women and
elderly people that are
in their 60s and 70s.

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NICK SCHIFRIN: Israel
blames Hamas for all of
those civilian casualties,

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Geoff. And Duckworth says
she's appealing to both

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the Israeli government
and the U.S. government
to try and get him out.

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GEOFF BENNETT: OK.

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Nick Schifrin, thanks
for that great reporting.
We appreciate it.

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NICK SCHIFRIN: Thank you.